Smoker&#39;s ash tray



March 26, 1957 s. P. GARsoN sMoKERs ASH TRAY Filed June 1, 1954 llllllllllllllllllllllllllll FIG FIG

FIG

STANLEY P. GARSON IN V EN TOR.

, www t SMKRS Asti (TRAY St'l' P-.Gasa .Settle Wash. Application June 1, 19.754, Serial No?. 433,614V z 4claiiiisf (ci. rail-2216i This present invention relates ,tothe Ageneral'artof ashl trays intended for the use of tobac-cosmokersf This tray is l,characterized by having acylindrical'base portion and by having'restinguponAand encircling the upper rriarj'-` gin of the same, a bezel rin'gwhichfis provided'with a coarse mesh wire screen. V'lfhe bezel has anvinteriorly directed and downwardly sloping annular'surfaeuarranged to support a portion of a icigarette. The screen Iwhich fills the interioropen portion of the'bezel is downwardly dished to'provide arconical youter portion andV terminates near the center of the wire screen in a spherical segmental central portionn u j .e A

The wide prevalenceof cigarette smoking has .produced a demandfor ash trays toserve as atemporary'sdep'ository; for aj lighted cigarette, to provide means for the disposal of the cigarette, andntoV provide a depository v for ashes.k In thepast awide variety .of ash trays vhas y been otferedzto the public and each,v of these had its own specialuvirtue as awrule. A large numbery ofv ash trays are providedy which -in elect are shallowsaucers. v:Suchash trays may be adistinct fire hazardwhen a personlays a cigarette downjn one of them and leaves it for an extended period because as thex cigaretteburns it loses'weight at 4thelighted endrsovit maybecome unbalanced andtipl offonto the supporting surface. 4Such ash trays `are lfurther subject to drafts and the ashes,`which it is desired toconfine, too Often-tare.. merely deposited. @sizilien-imap@ blown out of the shallow tray; On. theixother., extreme, we have the mechanical type of ash trays where a cigarette is placed upon a segmental bowl-which may be tipped to dinspose offtheashes or. the cigarette completely. 'I hiskind of-ash Atrayprovides an..excellentdisposaltv However-they are complicated .in their-structure, diflicult to keep clean, and normally areexpensive. .,Interrnediate these two extremesis thelarge rather deep bowl-likeash tray,. Ihese provide anadequate depository for both ashes and cigarettes. They are however very unsightly and for this reason are not desirable for use in homes or olii-ces, particularly among fastidious people. In this present ash tray, an earnest attempt has been made to solve many of the requirements such as convenience of parking a cigarette temporarily, of disposing of the ash, and of disposing of the cigarette itself, and finally, to insure a safe depository for cigarettes which may be laid aside momentarily, and then possibly be forgotten.

The principal object of this present invention therefore is to provide an ash tray particularly suitable for cigarettes which holds a cigarette for a reasonable period while still burning, and then if not recovered by its owner, will extinguish the cigarette.

A further object of this invention is to provide an ash tray with a dished screen surface wherein the ash will be directed downwardly through the screen into a suitable base portion where it will be retained, at the same time the cigarette will be retained on the upper surface of the screen until it is removed.

A further object of this present invention is to provide jmd States an ...ash `,tray a. `Vnin-neri.*re-siting I 'surface so'. arrangedthata cigarette maygbeudroppedon this surface at any point aroundthelperipheryand will'come to a restingpoint inaradial position.; i

.Further objects, yadvantages .and :capabilities kwill 4be apparent from the description and disclosure inthe drawings,1`or may be comprehended or are inherent in the device..... Inthedrawings: .Figure .1 is..a` vertica l..sectiona1l ViewA throughfar ash tray made after the teachings of this presentinvention; Figure..2 is an enlarged .fragmentary vertical sectional view. taken throughI the periphery of the upper. marginy of the. ash tray and illustrating the manner in which the cigarette.contactsthebezel .and the screen and also showing a modification of the manner inwhich the bezel'ring' is mounted-on the base; .A .f

rvFigure@ .is a Yview similar to Figure 2 but illustrating the approximate location at which the cigarette is extinguished; y A f v ,Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of "an alternatemanner of securing'the tray yscreer'i inplace; and

. Figure -5 is a fragmentary cross sectional View .showing a cigarette supported on a portion'of the screen.v

Referring more .particularly to the disclosure in the drawings, the numeral 10 designates generally the base portion ofthis ash tray preferably formed with a cylin-v dr'ical wall portion 12 anda at base or floor portion 14. Base 10 maybe'made of `any'suitable material', i. e.,`met`al, the non-inliarnmable plastics, and glass or ceramics. The ash trayalso includes a lightwelght metal liner 16,'having a liat bottom 17 restingV onv then bottom 14 of the base, the liner including an annular rounded portion 18 for easyV cleaning and avertical cylindrical wal1f19 which is in snug engagement with the inner surface of the wall 12. .Referring to Figure l, it will beno'ted thatthe upper portions -of wall 19 extend up' above'the upper edge of wall 12 ofthe base 10'Vso as to provide a centering'means for theside wallofbe'zel 22.

A As yshowrrin Fig'rel, the inner surface of the: dependingfcylindical wallofthe'v'ring is linmfrictional engagement with the outer surface of'the liner wall`19'at the upper portion thereof.` Downward'movement of" the .ring is limitedbyf.. the engagement' ofthe meetingedg'es of the wall of the ring andthe wall A12Vof the basev10 and the engagement of theupp'er edge ofthe liner ,wall 19 with the lower surface ofthe outer peripheral portion of they screeri'24. y l t -2 it? will be noted inl Figurel' that 4the screen'i which is iixedlylsecnredv toy the bezel assembly has a wide annular conical outer portion 21 which extends inwardly toward the center of the screen at which point a substantial spherical segmental central portion 23 is employed so as to give a rather broad upwardly concave base as is desirable when tapping out the ashes from a pipe, or to snuif out a cigar for instance.

A study of Figures 2 and 3 will assist in an understanding of the need for having the intermediate portion 21 of the screen in the form of a segment of a cone. It is to be noted that screen 24 underlies the sloping, conical, annular wall 26 of bezel 22 so that a cigarette which lies tangent to the solid metal of the solid metal of the bezel ring will rest rather lightly on the screen due to the fact that the screen does not present a flat surface. By the very nature of the rather heavy wire employed, cigarettes will normally bear on the screen.

On an assumed bowl having a diameter of ive inches, the sloping annular wall 26 of bezel 22 should be at least one-half inch wide and the wire forming the screen correspond to a Brown & Sharp wire gauge size of 20 to 24. If a screen is made of such a gauge wire, on a mesh size of three-sixteenths of an inch, the screen will Ptemed Mar. 26, 1957 in effect present a re-occuring series of bent peaks which will be disposed in rows disposed at right angles to each other. With this arrangement the cigarette is held up 01T the major surface of the body of the screen. Consequently there is very little heat transfer from the burning or coal end of the cigarette to the wire screen. It therefore follows that an individual can lay his cigarette on the screen surface and it will continue to burn with adequate progress so that there will be no stale tobacco odor emitted.

[n Figure 1 there is shown a wire screen secured at 32 on the tray. In Figure 1 the screen is soldered or preferably brazed to bezel 22. ln the form shown in Figures 2 and 3 the bezel extends upwardly in the sloping conical wall 26, then downwardly, and finally is bent back on itself to provide the outer side wall 34 and the screen locking short wall 36. It is to be noted that when the edge portion of the screen is pressed in to the space between bezel ring 26 and upstanding locking portion 36, it will tend to move the upwardly directed edge of locking wall portion 36 outwardly against portion 34 and, when the pressure is released, the natural resiliency of the metal and its further tendency to avoid being forced out of its cylindrical shape, provides a very eective gripping action in conjunction with the sloping annular wall surface 26. Throughout the drawings, the sheet metal thickness is somewhat exaggerated. The gripping action of locking wall 36 is further accentuated by having the upper edge of locking wall 36 as illustrated at 37 in Fig. 4, provided with an acute angled margin so that a relatively sharp edge is provided on the upper end of the locking wall portion 36 forming a substantial angle with the slope of sloping annular wall 26 of the bezel.

In Figures 2, 3 and 5 it will be noted that as the cigarette is laid on the screen with one end resting upon the conical annular top wall 26, because of the peaks 40 provided by the mesh, the end of the cigarette 42 will normally find lodgment against one of the cross Wires and will nd longitudinal guiding and positioning by the wires which meet the arresting wire at right angles or are parallel to it. This action provides a unique functioning of the ash tray which is particularly noted when a cigarette is just dropped on the surface from a height of two to six inches. As the cigarette lands, it will tend to roll until it reaches that portion of the screen where the wires are substantially radially disposed. This action, which does not occur when a line-wired surface screen is employed, has the effect of enabling a person to drop his cigarette at any point upon the periphery of the ash tray and it will nally come to rest in a substantially radial position. During the time it is rolling to its nal position, the tendency is to work down into the tray rather than to fall off the edge of the tray. When the cigarette burns, the ashes will slump slightly according to the showing of Fig-ure 3 tending to hold the cigarette in place and then when the coals reach the margin of the bezel conical wall 26, it will, according to the showing of Figure 3, arrest the burning at the margin of the bezel due to the rapid conduction of heat away from the cigarette. Figure 4 illustrates a variant form of the bezel and screen assembly. In Figure 4 the screen has a turned down marginal rim portion 44.

Having thus disclosed the invention, I claim:

1. An ash tray, comprising: an annular hollow base with an open top and a bezel ring resting on the top of said base, said bezel ring having a conical annular top wall of substantial width inwardly and downwardly directed at a suboctantal angle with the horizontal; and a screen formed of heavy gauge wire woven with a broad mesh and positioned on the under side of said bezel ring and enclosing the space between the inner edges of said annular wall, said screen having a wide outer conical portion broader than said annular wall and inwardly and downwardly directed at a suboctantal angle relative the horizontal, said bezel ring having side walls downwardly extending and then inwardly and upwardly folding presenting an upwardly directed edge below said annular wall and the edge portions of said screen being spring gripped between said upwardly directed edge and the under surface of said annular wall.

2. An ash tray, comprising: an annular hollow base with an open top and a bezel ring resting on the top of said base, said bezel ring having a conical annular top wall of substantial width inwardly and downwardl)I directed at a suboctantal angle with the horizontal; and a screen formed of heavy gauge wire woven with a broad mesh and positioned on the under side of said bezel ring and enclosing the space between the inner edges of said annular wall, said screen having a wide outer conical portion broader thanrsaid annular wall and inwardly and downwardly directed at a suboctantal angle relative the horizontal, said bezel ring having side walls downwardly extending and the inwardly and upwardly folding presenting an upwardly directed edge below said annular wall and the edge portions of said screen being spring-gripped between said upwardly directed edge and the under surface of said annular wall and, said upwardly directed edge being sharpened to an acute angle to bite into said screen.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,829,844 Altmayer NOV. 3, 1931 2,199,205 Litschgi Apr. 30, 1940 2,255,428 Leiman Sept. 9, 1941 2,327,411 Fink Aug. 24, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 172,747 Austria Oct. 10, 1952 

